This invention relates to tube supports, and, more particularly, to supports which are particularly well adapted for intermediately supporting elongated finned tubes.
A primary object of the present invention is to afford a novel tube support.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel support for supporting elongated finned tubes.
Yet another object is to afford a novel support for intermediately supporting, in parallel stacked relation to each other, elongated tubes having fins projecting outwardly from the upper and lower faces thereof.
Finned tubes of the type which embody fins projecting outwardly from the upper and lower faces thereof have been heretofore known in the art, being shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,212, which issued Aug. 24, 1965 to Richard W. Kritzer, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,105, which issued Sept. 19, 1972 to Joseph M. O'Connor. Oftentimes such tubes are of substantial length, such as, for example, in the nature of sixty or ninety feet in length. Also, such elongated tubes are oftentimes disposed in clusters or assemblies, wherein they are disposed in parallel stacked relation to each other. Heretofore, when such pluralities of finned tubes have been supported, they commonly have been supported by individual hangers, or by shaped members that were horizontally clamped thereto, and the like. It is an important object of the present invention to afford improvements over such supports heretofore known in the art.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel support for supporting stacks of finned tubing in a novel and expeditious manner effective to prevent damaging engagement between the fins of adjacent tubes.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel support of the aforementioned type wherein the parts thereof are so constituted and arranged that the support may be quickly and easily expanded or retracted in size for accommodating a greater or lesser number of tubes, respectively.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel support of the aforementioned type which embodies novel individual parts that may be quickly and easily assembled into various assemblies.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel tube support of the aforementioned type which embodies novel parts constituted and arranged in a novel and expeditious manner.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel support of the aforementioned type which is practical and efficient in operation, and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.